Amazon Launches Virtual Currency

Amazon launched its digital currency Amazon Coins on Monday that users can use to buy apps and games on the Kindle Fire. WSJ's Greg Bensinger reports. (Photo: Amazon)

This transcript has been automatically generated and may not be 100% accurate.

I ... it is on launches its own virtual currency by Greg Benson Wall Street Journal ... it was on Monday launched it was on Quartz ... new virtual currency for its Kindle Fire tablets ... users of Kindle Fire tablets can use the coins to buy in app purchases to buy apps themselves ... all in exchange for real money this is an effort that Amazon hopes will amount to higher sales more interest in their and their Amazon app store and more interest than that of its general ... the first effort a virtual currency ... Facebook for example had its own virtual currency failed effort to ... Finra to catch on with consumers ... also popular is a thing called Bitcoin this is done a lot of attention recently virtual currency ... traded again for real dollars critics a virtual currency like the Amazon point effort ... is designed to make consumers a little less aware of the money they're spending their cash in real dollars ... now all of the population who more Coppock ... and hopefully over time they'll spend more money ... and that can be confusing to this ... with the failed Facebook virtual currency and another currency from Micra soft that it too was phasing out ... remains to be seen how Amazon's effort ... will be greeted by consumers and out ...